world_of_homestuckfandomcom-20200214-history
072814lilymerrow
aspiringArchon AA began trolling galliardTartarol0gist GT at 22:57 -- 10:59 AA: MERROW WALKS UP TO THE DOOR HE HAS BEEN TOLD IS LILY'S, AND KNOCKS. "MISS MAVICO? ARE YOU AVAILABLE TO SPEAK?" 11:00 GT: It opens to reveal a smiling Lily. "Sure thing! What can I do you for?" 11:01 AA: "WE HAVE HAD SOME INTERESTING DISCUSSIONS WITH DARMOK, AND WITH OUR BETROTHED. WE WANTED TO SEE IF YOU COULD PROVIDE ANY INSIGHT BECAUSE SOME COMMENTS OF YOURS, AND DARMOK'S, SUGGEST YOU MIGHT HAVE KNOWLEDGE." 11:03 GT: "Well, I'm not exactly an expert on Darmok-ese, but I can sure give it my best. Come on in." She steps aside and allows you to enter her room, which has been mostly decorated. There is a large wax statue of Abraham Lincoln in the corner which you can't help feel is staring at you, as well as several bookshelves bursting with all sorts of books, and 'Jackie Junior' is sitting on a desk nearby. You 11:03 GT: think it might swivel around to look at you as you enter. 11:04 AA: "WE ACTUALLY HAVE A DECENT UNDERSTANDING OF HIM, THOUGH THE PICTURES WE DRAW FROM WHAT HE SAYS ARE SOMEWHAT VAGUE." 11:05 GT: "Oh, really? Neat! What've you heard from him?" She takes a seat on her bed. 11:11 AA: "Well, for starters, are you familiar with a place called 'Arena?'" 11:12 GT: "Can't say that I am," she says blithely, but her face takes on a slightly guarded look. It could be a trick of the light, though. 11:13 AA: "WE SEE. IT IS POSSIBLE YOU DO NOT KNOW THE NAME OF THE WORLD ITSELF. ACENIA TOLD US YOU TOLD HER YOU WERE BOTH HALF-TWINK, HOWEVER. WHILE DARMOK DID NOT USE THE WORD HIMSELF, OUR DISCUSSION WITH HIM, COMBINED WITH ACENIA TELLING US THIS, MAKES US SUSPECT TWINKS ARE THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD." 11:13 GT: Her smile drops. "I have no idea what you're talking about." 11:14 AA: Merrow's eyes narrow. "WE SEE. YOU AREN'T BEING INTERROGATED, YOU KNOW. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE ON THE DEFENSIVE." 11:15 AA: "WE ARE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR LINEAGE. IT WOULD SEEM OUR OWN, BY WHICH WE MEAN, ALL OF THE PLAYERS, IS NOT EXACTLY COMMONPLACE EITHER, IF DARMOK'S INSIGHTS ARE CORRECT." 11:16 GT: "No, really, I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't spoken to Acenia at all today, and I definitely didn't mention anything about 'twinks', whatever they are. I don't THINK I'm half-chemical pastry." 11:18 AA: "WE HAD THOUGHT PERHAPS TO DISCUSS THIS 'TWINK' THING WITH YOU, IN THE HOPES OF BETTER UNDERSTANDING OUR MATE, BUT IF IT IS SOMETHING YOU DO NOT WISH TO GO INTO, WE WILL NOT PUSH YOU ON IT. SIMPLY UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO HIDE." 11:18 AA: "THERE ARE OTHER MATTERS TO DISCUSS ANYWAY, IF THAT AREA OF DISCUSSION IS UNCOMFORTABLE FOR YOU." 11:18 AA: Merrow goes on, seemingly disappointed, but not perturbed. 11:19 GT: "I still don't understand where you're getting this from. I mean, I'm fully human. You can ask my dad. But sure, go ahead." 11:21 AA: "DARMOK SOMETIMES SPEAKS OF 'THE OTHER SIDE,' WHICH WE HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND MEANS THE WORLD OF THE GAME THAT WE WILL BE PLAYING. HE SAYS HIS KNOWLEDGE COMES FROM 'FRIENDS ON THE OTHER SIDE.' HE ALSO SUGGESTED YOU MIGHT HAVE 'FRIENDS ON THE OTHER SIDE' AS WELL. WE WOULD BE VERY INTERESTED TO KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE, OR WHAT YOU CAN TELL US ABOUT THE PEOPLE THERE?" 11:22 GT: She shrugs. "I'm as in the dark as you are. My Aunt Jackie works for Skaianet, so I do have a little bit of advance knowledge of the game, but I'm not some kind of all-knowing seer." 11:24 AA: "WE DID NOT ASSUME YOU WOULD BE ALL-KNOWING. WE SIMPLY THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS, OR THAT IF WE TOLD YOU SOME OF THE CONJECTURES WE HAVE BASED ON DARMOK'S STATEMENTS, THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO FILL IN SOME OF THE GAPS." 11:24 AA: "BUT IF WE WERE WRONG THEN WE APOLOGIZE FOR BOTHERING YOU." 11:24 GT: "No no, not at all. I'd love to hear what you have to say. I'll fill in what gaps I can." 11:25 AA: "WE ARE NERVOUS MIND YOU. SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED COULD BE QUITE UPSETTING, AND ARE NOT WIDELY KNOWN. IF WE TELL YOU THESE THINGS, WE TELL YOU IN CONFIDENCE." 11:25 AA: "ORDINARILY WE WOULD NOT TRUST SOMEONE WE HAD JUST MET WITH SUCH A THING, BUT AS DARMOK SEEMS TO LIKE YOU, WE TAKE IT AS A GOOD SIGN OF YOUR CHARACTER." 11:26 GT: "You got it. I'm the best at keeping secrets, don't worry." She winks conspiratorially. 11:26 AA: "INDEED. VERY WELL." 11:26 AA: Merrow breathes in. 11:26 AA: "TO START WITH, OUR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE ARE NOT THE FIRST PLAYERS OF THIS GAME. OUR PARENTS WERE ALSO PLAYERS. OR RATHER....ALTERNATE VERSIONS OF OUR PARENTS." 11:27 GT: "Huh." She looks mildly surprised. "You're sure?" 11:28 AA: "OR TO PUT IT IN MORE EXPLICIT TERMS, THE PEOPLE WE, BY WHICH I MEAN ALL OF US PLAYERS, KNOW OF AS OUR PARENTS ARE NOT OUR PARENTS BY BIRTH, BUT HAVE ADOPTED US. HOWEVER, OUR ACTUAL PARENTS ARE THE SAME PEOPLE IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, AND THEREFORE OUR ADOPTIVE PARENTS ARE ALSO OUR GENETIC PARENTS." 11:28 AA: "WE ARE SURE OF LITTLE. BUT DARMOK SEEMED TO CONFIRM OUR CONJECTURE AS THOUGH WE WERE AT LEAST BROADLY CORRECT." 11:28 GT: "That is really confusing but I think I get it." 11:29 AA: "IT IS. IN FACT, IF YOU WOULD NOT FEEL OFFENDED BY MY LACK OF OFFICIAL DECORUM, WE MIGHT SPEAK MORE CASUALLY TO PREVENT MISUNDERSTANDINGS FROM AMBIGUOUS PRONOUNS. WOULD YOU AGREE TO THIS?" 11:29 AA: (( By *our* lack of official decorum. )) 11:30 GT: "I'll try not to be too wildly offended." 11:30 AA: Merrow exhales, and switches to FAMILIAR MODE. "Very well. Yes, it is quite a jumbled mess." 11:31 GT: "So you CAN speak in a normal tone of voice!" 11:31 AA: "Of course. The royal voice is simply a formal manner of address as is expected of a future emperor." 11:32 AA: "But it gets troublesome in especially in-depth explanations." 11:32 GT: "I imagine it wears on the throat a bit after a while." 11:32 AA: "Indeed." 11:33 AA: "At any rate, Darmok's comments only confirm, and in some ways explain other information I have which I cannot reveal the source of. It is in fact the reason I trust his council so much. He knows things that he cannot possibly know, therefore I take his comments very seriously." 11:34 AA: "Suffice to say, I am 99% certain about the fact that our parents were players of this game who sent us to this world." 11:34 GT: "All right, what else ya got?" 11:34 AA: "And for some reason found versions of themselves to adopt us." 11:35 AA: "Well, aside from a few personal matters involving certain individuals within our play group, the main thing that I have is speculation. There seems to be either an individual, or multiple individuals, manipulating us." 11:36 AA: "And....Acenia is somewhat worried that even our True Parents are manipulating us in a sense--she thinks we were created to fill the gaps in their own team, that we are simple replacements they have brought about to ensure their victory." 11:36 AA: "I am not fond of this interpretation, but I cannot argue that she doesn't have a point. It's a matter of some concern." 11:37 GT: "Well, why else would they be traveling to our session? It probably isn't to tell us they're so, so proud of us." 11:41 AA: Merrow looks a bit pained by this, and sighs. "That is true." 11:41 GT: "I wouldn't worry about it. They're going to be powerful, high-level players coming for the specific purpose of backing us up and making sure we win. I'd say it's a win-win situation all around." 11:58 AA: "Nevertheless I feel concerned about the way our lives are being manipulated. Is this apocalypse also the fault of these players? And what sort of trouble have they gotten us into?" 12:00 GT: "I don't think the apocalypse was caused by the players of the last session. It's probably part of the game. I mean, if it can manipulate reality to such an extent that we're playing it in our dreams even now, ending the world doesn't seem like much of a stretch." 12:00 AA: "Perhaps. You said you have a contact who works with the company responsible for this game, correct? Do you have any understanding of how, or why, they are doing this?" 12:03 GT: "Not a clue. Aunt Jackie's mainly told me about the basic plot of the game and a bit about the player mechanics." 12:03 AA: "Oh! That information would also be very useful. Would you be willing to share any of that?" 12:05 GT: "Sure!" She taps her chin in thought. "OK, so, from what I can remember, there are two sides: the side of Good and the side of Evil, which are locked in eternal conflict. However, the side of Evil is destined to win without fail unless the heroes, i.e. us, do something about it. The goal of the game is to defeat the leader of the Evil army." 12:06 GT: "All in all, pretty cliche, but what're ya gonna do." 12:07 AA: "Yes. Seems standard enough. Other than the fact that we'll actually be fighting it for real, apparently." 12:08 GT: "Isn't it AWESOME? It's gonna be VR on a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!" 12:12 AA: "With the very real danger of dying." 12:12 AA: "I am not sure 'Awesome' is necessarily the word to use." 12:13 GT: "Pff." She waves her hand. "Possibly dying while fighting kickass monsters versus DEFINITELY dying in meteor-storm armageddon? I know what I'M looking forward to more." 12:15 AA: "I admit it's better than the alternative we've been given at the moment." 12:15 AA: "What of the player mechanics you spoke of?" 12:17 GT: "Something about godhood, I think. I wasn't paying much attention." 12:18 AA: "This could be a matter of some importance. You don't think it might be worth taking greater note of?" 12:19 GT: "I could go hunt down the letter where she talked about it, I guess. Might take a while, though. I have a LOT of these things." 12:20 AA: "Understood. If you could find it we would very much like to read it. Or if you have personal things to remove from it first, that's understandable." 12:22 GT: She chuckles. "You got it." 12:28 GT: "So is that it, or did you get anything else from Darmok?" 12:29 AA: "Nothing that doesn't have to do with this 'Arena' or gathering information on these 'Twinks' that you've 'never heard of.'" Merrow sighs. He clearly has not bought your explanation. 12:29 AA: "If you decide you HAVE discovered anything about either, please let me know." 12:30 AA: "It is possible my heirs will share this lineage some day, and I would like to know more about them." 12:32 GT: She pauses, then takes off her goggles and fixes him with the most intense stare she can muster. "I do not have the faintest idea what you're talking about. And if anyone asks, neither do you. Is. That. Clear?" 12:34 AA: Merrow returns the gaze with narrowed eyes. "I think you'll find that attempting to give orders to a Prince is unwise, Lily Mavico. Especially one who is motivated by matters of the heart." 12:35 GT: "I think you'll find that I don't give a fuck. You may be a prince of trolls, but I'm a human. I don't recognize your authority and I never have. Your fancy title don't mean shit to me." 12:37 AA: Merrow goes back into PRINCE MODE. "VERY WELL. THEN IT SEEMS FATE HAS DECIDED THE DISPOSITION OF OUR RELATIONSHIP FOR US." 12:37 AA: "GOOD DAY, LILY MAVICO." Merrow turns on his heel and leaves the room, closing the door hard behind him. 12:38 GT: "Pompous bastard," she mutters as he leaves.